Run
by smollerthings
Summary: *I give all credit to Shadow Vaults.*All she could see was darkness, wait who was she? If anyone? She couldn't remember, oh shit that's bad. Really bad. "Who am I?" She sobbed into the darkness, as if it would give her an answer, her voice changed octave as she screamed. -COMPLETED-
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! This isn't my first story. First TMR fic, but not my first story. The first two chapters aren't mine, they belong to a friend, but she hasn't posted them on this sight, I think. She posted it on DeviArt. Eh, don't worry. I don't think she minds. Her username is Shadow Vaults. And on DeviArt, it was a reader lemon, and I don't do that stuff. So... instead of it being a reader lemon, I changed some stuff up. You can imagine the girl as you though, I guess. But she is one of my OCs. **

**Anyway, enjoy ****_Run! _**

_Grace_

All she could see was darkness, wait who was she? If anyone? She couldn't remember, oh shit that's bad. Really bad.

"Who am I?" She sobbed into the darkness,as if it would give her an answer, her voice changed octave as she screamed. Curling her grimy fingers into a fist she punched the air, yelping as it collided with a cage. Suddenly a bright florescent bar flashed across the side, lighting up the cage. It looked like there was supplies in here. She pushed herself onto her knees and crawled over to a box of canned things. She had no idea what was going on, she couldn't remember her name, her birthday, anything. She knew how to breath, speak English and move, but memories were lost to her.

As she was pondering what the bloody hell was wrong with this, the elevator sped up making her stomach roll around inside of her.

'Dumb sack of bile, stay put!' she thought, screaming frantically trying not to throw up, and while she was trying to keep your reflexes under control, she slipped your nose colliding with the grating holding her up. She groaned as you felt something dripping out of her nose. Blood, she registered. She didn't bother getting up, even laying down made her feel sick. Her eyes rolled around, watching the grey and eye burning white flash by in a pattern beneath her, at least until the box stopped and the lights turned red. Bathing her and the supplies in a demonic red glow. It startled her, the sudden change in light and the stop another drew a yell out of her. It wasn't any yell though, it was a word. A name. Her name. Grace. Or was it? Wait- What was it? Damn, it was gone again before she had time to register what was going on. She could hear voices, shoes pounding against the ground, muffled shouts, that mixed in with her labored breathing.

She panted scrambling up and whipping her nose with her hand. She just realized she was wearing dark grey jeans, a t-shirt hidden beneath a black hooded jacket. The off-white strings that came out of the hood had been chewed on many times, she did that? Was it a nervous habit? She had no idea, and she didn't get to decide what she thought of herself or her attire for the ceiling opened up revealing several boys- and men- gathering around the pit she was in. She squinted at them shielding her eyes with her bloody hand, some gasped, a few smirked, some pointed including the one in the front. Then the crowd was filled with whispers, chattering, and chuckling.

Oh my. She was in for it. . . what kind of Hell did she just land herself in?

"It's a Greenie Girl!" A few boys chattered among themselves about yourself. Sitting there dumbly staring every available source that touched your glittering blue orbs, was not the greatest plan of action.

The rest lost in translation to your scrambled consciousness, which was ready to have a melt down inside your thick skull.

Whoever was standing directly in the front had dark blonde-brown hair, smudged skin but beneath the sweat and grime he was pale, with vibrant brown eyes trained on her. Actually, if she looked at him more closely, he was pretty handsome. For possibly being a cannibal, or a religious person who may participate in human sacrifice. She wasn't sure what to think of any of them, yet.

"What is it?" A stronger voice said, almost bored with the fact she existed. Great. Great signs. She scowled at this while she tried to figure out why that bothered her.

"It's a girl," The boy in a off-white jacket, the same design as hers, with brown-red hair called behind him before hopping into the compartment with her. The same one that had caught her attention earlier. The crowd went silent at that, many pairs of eyes fell on her. She shook her head, feeling warmth drip off her upper lip. The boy that had announced her gender, or rather confirmed it, had the weirdest sounding voice, it was actually pretty interesting to listen too. Another male appeared, dark skin, bald, strong looking. He looked like the oldest one here. They all were wearing jeans like her, but with stained shirts, jackets or leather padding across them.

"What's your name, girlie?" The dark male said with that same almost bored voice, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Who are you?" She shot back, stumbling back so that her back was against the woven cage. Eyes widening, she felt like a mouse with these stronger cats surrounding her.

"Newt, you?" The boy in front of her declared, holding both hands up and backing up.

"Where am I?" She asked this 'Newt'. Strange sounding name, she thought. She wasn't sure what to do, everything was going a mile a minute and then stopping suddenly as she stared at Newt with squinted eyes swimming with confusion.

"It's perfectly normal not to remember your name or anything about yourself, but slow down a bit. You're buggin' out and givin' me a bloody headache. We've all been through it. You're not going to know everything today,greenie" He ignored her question completely, which made a bit of frustration stir within her, "but you will with time," adding the 'but' as an afterthought when her breathing became only quick gulps trying to take everything in at once. Newt extended a hand to her, again.

"I-I," She tried to speak but it came out as a gibberish of questions and maybe a plea for help thrown in there. Giving up on the complicated art of speech she took his hand with her opposite one and gripped it firmly. He grinned widely before shaking her hand roughly and dropping it. He crawled out of the cage and offered her both hands. She followed, grabbing both of his hands with hers and placing a foot on a crate pressed up against one of the walls. He lifted her into her new location alone, the darker male studying her with interest while others gawked, some seemed only interested in the supplies in the elevator, which was fine with her. All this attention and her own mental. The cage was surrounded by a ring of people, all looking at her shaking form.

"You remember your name?" The dark male asked, raising an eyebrow patting her shoulder awkwardly. She blinked at him, and turned to look at the other faces in the crowd. Some where short,others were tall, had freckles, had pimples, had curly hair, had no hair, dark skinned, light skinned, tanned, chubby. It was like looking at a grocery store for single women, good thing she didn't seem to be a romantic person or she might've fainted by now. She was more concerned with her safety at the moment, and being surrounded by all these people didn't give her that feeling of comfort. The boy that helped her out of her prison, Newt, seemed nice enough but really she was frantic for information, for the constant melting and re-solidifying of her brain to halt.

She shook her head slowly in response. She was now slowly starting to inch towards the outer edge of the circle, towards the woods. She was going to make a run for it, would they try to stop her? If they caught her, what would they do? She asked herself these questions, but the only thing she wanted was to get out of where ever she was.

"Let's get the greenie's face fixed,she's bleeding," One boy said, younger, definitely younger than herself. He was short, chubby with curly brown hair- Wait, how old was she? Didn't matter or did it?- 'Oh my bloody hell, here you go again, spiraling into that sickening pit of confusion.'

"Ya' think?" She hissed, jerking her head a bit in the process. The boy's eye's widened at her sarcastic and a bit harsh remark, but she didn't particularly care about some random person's feelings right now.

'Calm down,uh,me. And don't throw up by the way,' she told herself, having to say 'me' to herself made her blink repeatedly to keep from crying. She didn't know her own name for the love of God!

She played it off as the sun in her eyes. She locked her gaze, whatever color her eyes were, with the boy who had helped her out. He still was grinning.

"Oi, don't you all have jobs to do? Get outta' here, shanks!" The oldest man, she assumed the leader.

'Thank you,sir, you just made my escape from your establishment much easier.' She chuckled internally, as to not give away her position.

"Well, then Greenie, I'm Alby. Leader of the Glade. You've met Newt," He paused gesturing to the boy she was staring at, who was staring back. "He's in charge when I'm not around,"

"Good thing you're always around,then" Newt said, nudging her shoulder in the process, obviously trying to joke and draw a smile out of her. The best she could offer was a twitch of the corners of her mouth. She knew he was teasing but having it said felt a bit unnerving. Alby chuckled though, but didn't deny or approve of his remark verbally, unnerving was one word for this feeling. The other boys had gone off to their work places or such, thankfully, she no longer felt like a piece of meat set out for a pack of wolves.

"I assume you have a lot of questions about the Glade and us. It's not really right for me to ask this of you, but do you know why you're here or who you are?" Alby asked, slowly, as if she couldn't understand him. Her frown deepened at that.

"No," She let the word drip into the humid air, it was the best she could muster at the moment.

"Course' you don't,none of us do. It is kind've odd though since ye' are a girl." Newt interjected before being shouldered by Alby as a sign to shut up. She almost verbally asked, 'Can you just let him- explain it please? His voice is a lot more interesting and I might attempt to listen to him.'  
but held her tongue for obvious reasons.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked sourly, it wasn't like she was offended by that comment but it did strike her as unimportant.

"Look around you,what do you see? You're the only _girl _here," Newt replied, and she eventually nodded. It was weird in itself, to exist at all. Alby started walking and signaled for her to follow, Newt followed behind. She was coming up on a building, that even from the outside smelled like herbs and forestry and that sullen scent of death. Great, she felt so safe here. It looked like it was thrown together and tied with vines.

She never entered that decently constructed building. As soon as Alby went to open the door, she fled.

"We've got a Runner!" Alby shouted as she tore away from his and Newt's side, Newt bolted after her, nearly catching her arm but she dove into the woods before he could, still running.

There were shouts and the sound of crunching with pursuit, just a blur of sound in her ear as was the trees and branches whipping at her arms and ankles. She was a skinny girl, nimble and quick on her bare feet. Different from the boys, well at least the ones coming after her. She was slipping past trees, under low branches and over fallen logs with a ease she didn't know she again she knew nothing about herself, she didn't even know what her own face looked like. The shrubbery eventually got thicker and thicker until she was sure she would be swallowed up by it until she burst into a clearing with overturned dirt and twigs.

That's where she stopped, collapsing on the ground with a quick muttering of 'fuck it' between panting as she waited for them to catch up to her. Tie her down and do whatever they pleased with her, she was so dead was the only thing she could think. They never came though, and she didn't even know how long she stood there waiting to be tackled to the ground. She seemingly blinked once and the sky was dark.

"Shit," She said aloud, looking around at the now looming shadows of the surrounding trees. Leaves littered the ground and crunched under her bare feet as she moved, she twitched at every small sound. Everything made her jump, from the whistling of the wind in her ears to the low groans of- what was that? It sounded like a dying beasts, getting louder and louder. It started to hurt her ears. After a second, she sunk to the ground with her back against the bark of the nearest tree.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and forced them to her chest, breathing in and out and trying to block out the sound with her own heavy breathing. It seemed to fill the space around her until she shook like a leaf in a storm. She did the last thing she wanted to do, sob. Not that she could be heard, it was muffled by her jeans not to mention the grating sound engulfing her senses and everything around her. Everything seemed to tremble with the might coming from no where in particular.  
In this short time she was crying into her knees, she realized a few things.

One, she was scared. That was quite obvious. Two, she only had a little knowledge as to what she actually looked like. She knew she had caramel-brown hair, she thought she had a thin nose just by brushing her fingers over it, but otherwise she was unsure of what she actually looked like. She could make a guess but having to guess in the first place just frightened her even more. Third of all, she was lost. She hadn't really thought her plan of 'running away' through, apparently when she was frantic she had very stupid ways of coping with it.  
She would have to go back, it was her only chance of survival. For one night she could be alone, though, she could cry herself to sleep without criticism.

It didn't take long for her to stop the water works in her eyes, the ruckus had long since stopped but in it's place a quieter tumbling of metal on metal.

"What is that sound?" She breathed before flipping the hood of her jacket up over her head so the sound might be muffled by the fabric. She didn't know how it was possible, but she managed to fall asleep with one of her jacket's strings in her mouth. It tasted like metal, salt, and blood but it felt right gnawing the fabric between her molars. Peaceful sleep wasn't what the universe had in mind though.

She was of course woken by more rumbling, she still wasn't used to it. Soon enough she would be,right? She'd survive that long, she knew she could do it. Hell, she just slept in the middle of the woods, with no rhyme or reason when there was suspicious but hospitable people with shelter to house her. What a stubborn person she was.

Not to mention that, but she had a dream last night. She had expected a nightmare or just for her to black out and remember nothing of her subconscious outlook on the world. In her dream, she had been given a name. Grace. It was clearly scribbled in her brain now, she'd have to tell someone it sometime, Grace thought it was pretty. May or may not be fitting, but perhaps it was.

Whipping her face off with her sleeve Grace stood up, stretching her hands above her head. She heard a small crack and the chatter of animals as she slowly moved around the tree that had been her resting place. Grace noticed she had itchy mosquito bites across the back of her neck and the pads of her feet were cut and bruised but otherwise she was fine. Sighing loudly to the nothingness, she started to walk with her hands buried in her pockets, at first she was going nowhere in particular until she heard shouts and loud talking. Grace sighed, her, whatever colored eyes, still fixed on her bare feet that were caked in mud and sweat. Grace continued until she nearly stepped out of the tree line, stumbling back she leaned her shoulder against the tree she nearly tripped over just then. Daring to look up she saw the tribe of people scattered across the grassy clearing. Some where hauling blades, wood, shovels, farming equipment- oh my fucking hell- wait a second, what was that? Her mind did loops when she saw a group gathered by an immense stone wall, with a clear opening that reached the top. How had she missed it, she was trapped in this place. Then again, if she were then so were they.

Grace noticed Newt, the boy who pulled her out of the elevator,was picking fruit from a garden type area. She circled the tree until she was leaning in front of it, someone was bound to notice her eventually. She watched Newt and a few others working in the garden, with her arms crossed over her chest and weight wresting mostly on her back. Grace dipped her head forward her greasy hair falling in her eyes as she started scratching the back of her neck rapidly at the sores on her neck. While she wasn't looking, someone did notice the unfamiliar figure of yourself standing awkwardly to the side.

_Newt_

He titled his head a bit confused she had returned fully on her own, either she was really stupid for leaving in the first place or really smart for coming back. Newt wasn't quite sure yet. He turned to his comrades quickly so that Grace didn't choose to run off again and told them he'd be right back, they all nodded not paying any mind to whatever he was doing.

'Were all girls like this? Smart mouthed and. . .' He wondered silently. 'Beautiful...'

_Grace_

Grace looked up just in time to see him jogging towards her. She stood up a little straighter, having been grinding her spine into the base of the tree moments before. Now she waited for the confrontation, nervously combing her fingers through her knotted hair.

"What're you back here for? Ya' must've ran away for a reason, why come back?" Newt asked coolly, loosely crossing his arms over his lower chest. He had decided he wasn't angry, Alby might be, but what he thought mattered right now.

"I wasn't planning on leaving. I can't even if I wanted to though, could I?" Grace replied quietly, looking anywhere but at his eyes. Adding the last bit as an afterthought so that she could fish for answers on where she was.

"Then why'd you run?" he asked voice softening the slightest, but she could still hear a hint of- something. Hurt maybe for not being trusted. He ignored her rhetorical question anyways, so it didn't matter.

"I needed to be alone," Grace replied monotonously, she could practically feel a lecture coming on.

"You could have just asked, we would've let ya' alone if you needed it, I mean really- we understand what the hell it's like to just pop up somewhere and have the living klunk scared out of ya'. You could have gotten killed,injured,lost,stung or any number of things," He scolded her with a low stern voice but sympathy laced his words, Grace just so happened to be able to pick up on that. Bingo. Like he said yesterday, everyone had been through it, everyone included himself.

"Yeah," Grace nodded slightly, still looking off to the side. Towards the wall and the doorway to who knows what.

"Right then,come on," Newt said, grabbing her arm and waiting a moment for Grace to protest. She didn't, instead she snapped her gaze away from the mysterious unexplored part of the meadow and to Newt's expressionless face. He started to walk towards the camp and she followed at the same pace so he didn't have to drag her. He didn't let her go, Grace assumed so she wouldn't run again. Trust would have to be earned back she guessed.

"Let me lay down the rules, Girlie, so next time you think a bit before runnin' off"

"Grace," She corrected in a whisper, eyes still watching the grass pass beneath her dirty feet. Fingers curling and uncurling in her pockets as she waited for him to ignore her plea to be called by her own name. It was the last bit of familiarity Grace owned at the moment.

"What?" He said, stopping suddenly and turning to face her with a curious glint in his brown eyes.

"My name. It's Grace, and I would like to be called that. Not girlie or greenie or whatever nickname you prefer to use you're using here." she explained in that shameful sort of tone.

"Right," He said, drawing out the word and looking momentarily confused. It sounded like a pretty name to her, seeing as being surrounded by males she wasn't sure if he could call anyone else's name _pretty_. She shook her head, what was she thinking? Grace probably wasn't going to trust any of them, let alone on _that _level. He started walking again pulling her along behind him by the arm for a moment before she caught up.

"Well, Grace, we only have three rules in the glade and they aren't hard to follow. One, everyone does their part. We don't got time for shuck faced, free-loaders, al'right? Just cause' you're a girl doesn't mean you get to much special treatment," Newt explained, and Grace nodded vigorously letting out a small laugh at the comment. Seemed fair enough, she got food and shelter in return for working with them- or rather- for them.

"Second never injure another Glader. We have to trust each other and hurting one an' other isn't going to get us anywhere,"

"I doubt I'll be picking fights with anyone but it seems like a reasonable rule," Grace commented truthfully, shrugging her shoulders in the process. Newt laughed before wiggling his hand out from under her folded arms to open a door. She heard whispers, as Newt chattered away. Grace only caught a glimpse of a few of the other Gladers as Newt dragged her along.

"Right then, come on. Last rule is very important, never leave the glade. I'm sure you know the wall,you were starin' at it long enough," He gestured behind him quickly at the wall she had been looking at earlier.

"Never go through those doors, got it, it's dangerous," He explained dragging Grace into the stick building and setting her down on a cot before ducking behind a wall. She could see him searching for something through the gaps in the scraggly wood that made up the divider.

"Why?" Grace asked without thinking about what she was asking for. He peaked around the corner to glare at her.

"Don't be a stubborn shank," he warned, raising an eyebrow at her before going back to whatever he was up to.

"I'll listen to the rules, but I want to know why they're there," Grace said, doing the exact opposite of what he just asked. He groaned, probably trying to think of a way to discourage Grace from breaking that particular rule without telling her exactly what she wanted to know.

"There're demons out there that will eat ya' alive without a second thought," Newt claimed, "We call em' Grievers.

"You're leading-" Grace was about to say but was cut off.

"So, unless you have a death wish, girl Grace, don't leave the Glade," Newt said.

"O'course, Runner's leave the glade daily to look for a way out of this place. But you can't be a runner unless Alby says so. They are the fastest, smartest, and bravest of all of us, they have to be to make it back into the Glade before night fall,since if they aren't they'll be stuck in the outside for the night. and nobody's survived a night," Newt rambled to Grace before returning with few strips of white fabric and a bowl of water. Setting the bowl of water on a nearby table he sat on the bed.

"Gimme' your feet," He commanded, "I may not be a med-jack but I know what I'm doing," He assured her. Med-Jacks must take care of the wounded or sick, she assumed. Obeying slowly she pulled her feet onto the canvas blanket. He lifted one up and started to clean the cuts on the pad of her foot. Grace flopped backwards on what she thought was a pillow and listened in silence. She winced, the water made her foot sting slightly but not as bad as it could've been. Her feet hadn't hurt last night, odd.

"Why'd you come here barefoot?" He asked, wrapping a dry piece of fabric firmly around her foot before starting on the other one.

"I don't know," Grace replied blankly. He cocked an eyebrow at her answer.

"Not surprising. " He said standing up and starting to leave.

"Wait!" Grace said, sitting up again, using her arms for support.

"Don't worry, I'll get Alby to explain the rest to you. We wouldn't leave ya' in the dark unless it was for your own good," He winked before leaving again, the door closing with a creak. She snorted, almost confident enough to ask him to explain it to her. Instead she didn't.

"Alright then," Grace yawned, laying back down and flipping over. She stared at the wall, but apparently she needed more rest than she thought she did. When Grace blinked orange light was fluttering through the cracks of the structure but when she opened her eyes again it was replaced with a silver light. Whining, geez did she sound so pitiful in such a small space, she sat up again only to realize a crimson sheet had been draped over her. The room wasn't empty, as it had been when Newt left, someone else was breathing heavily. Grace shrugged the blanket off her shoulder, not wanting to wake whoever it was in the process of her leaving the humble little stick building, she stood up and tip toed towards the door. Her feet were a bit sore, but otherwise she could walk fine. Grace untied the latch to the door and slipped out, hearing a loud snore from inside the structure she smirked to herself, she hadn't woken him and at least that was some progress.

Grace wasn't sure where she was actually going, her bruised feet seemed to carry her somewhere she wanted to go. Sighing, she shoved her hands into her pockets, right before she passed the prisoner's Box. Her expression had been blank as she walked towards wherever but something about the sound of rust crunching behind the metal doors made her heart pound and her palms sweat. Grimacing at it as if it could jump up and get her, and it just might, she started to run again until it was only a dark speck against the already dark ground. Grace stopped, panting lightly before she slowly padded towards the wall that towered above her, whispering in an ancient tongue

The night was silent, except for the crunch of grass under her feet as she moved and the buzzing of insects. Her water-blue eyes were eventually met with a bland cloud of grey, speckled with ivy. She put a hand onto the cold stone, to her surprise it started to vibrate slightly at her touch. Was it alive? She shuddered at the thought. Grace could hear something, like whispers, coming from inside. Maybe it was.

Grace turned to her right to see a torch, it's sharp end driven into the ground and the flames illuminating a section of the wall. She started to walk, fingers brushing across the wall as she did so, towards it. Grace could feel the bumps and crevices of the old rock face as well as some parts that had a knots of ivy, the rough stems lightly irritating her fingers.

Once she reached the illumination in the darkness, she realized the wall it was showing had been filled with names, all crudely scribbled into the wall. Grace picked out Newt's and Alby's after a bit of searching, the others where all strangers.

Ben. Gally. Chuck.

For a moment she saw her own name, written in neat black ink on a piece of pale parchment. And just like that the image was gone, leaving her seemingly alone with the flickering shadows.

"What do we have here? Like the wall of names, Grace?" A gruff voice said, she whipped around, eyes widening momentarily before she realized it was just the Glade leader, Alby. Grace assumed Newt told him her name, so she wasn't surprised that he used it.

"Yeah, why though?" She asked, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes before she started tracing some of the letters with an index finger.

"To keep track of all the Glader's of course," Alby said, padding towards Grace softly and standing beside her. His dark eyes were watching her as she studied the wall.

"Why are their names crossed out?" Grace asked, but as soon as the words left her mouth she realized what it signified.

"The Glade is a dangerous place, not to mention the Maze." Alby sighed, pulling something out of his belt.

"What maze?" She frantically turned, looking for answers now. She was about to start demanding answers from him when catching the glint of a knife. Grace gasped, taking a step back. Was he going to murder her? Why? What had she done?!

"Woah, Woah, Calm down," he said, offering her the blade handle first. "I think it's about time we added you to our ranks," He said, a small smirk gracing his strong face. Grace looked from the knife to his face before taking it, handle first.

"Anyone brave enough to run off into the woods near night fall,and come back the next day in a decent mind-set is worth havin' in the Glade,"

"You think I deserve it?" She laughed with disbelief, running a thumb over the edge of the short blade.

"Certainly." Alby calmly stated, gesturing towards an empty space in the wall. She lifted the blade for a moment, watching as the fire light caught it's sharp edge. With a curt exhale Grace dug the tip into the stone before carefully carving her name into the blank space. Luckily for her, it just happened to fit.

"Let's hope someone doesn't have to cross my name off too soon," Grace said smugly admiring her handy name was a bit more legible than the others, making it stick out against the other chicken scratch.

"I'm sure you won't be going anywhere anytime soon, Grace." Alby agreed. She handed him his knife back in the same way he had given it to her. He slipped it back into his waist belt and picked up the torch.

"Now, let's get you settled in for the night before the others wake up," He inquired before he started walking. Grace waited, watching the flame retreat.

'1'  
'2'  
'3'

Three counts were made mentally before she jogged after him.

"What was this about a maze?" She muttered, almost afraid to ask the stoic man in fear of being harshly rejected of the information.

"Depends on what you want to things it would be better for you to learn with experience." Alby whispered slowly.

"It's simple what I want to know, I just asked you, 'What about this maze'?" She snapped, Alby opened his mouth to reply but she stopped him, "Is it alive?" Grace phrased warily before he could speak some nonsense about why he couldn't tell her, only just realizing as the words left her lips how stupid she sounded.

"Not that we know of. Far as we know it's a mechanism controlled by something alive," Alby said softly,taking the question as seriously as Grace had meant it "It's the Runner's job to know everything they can about the Maze. You'll probably meet some of them eventually, maybe even be one. Newt used to be a Runner. and Since yar' not a runner, that's all I'm gonna' tell you," He explained to her as they both walked, he had boots on that made a small impression in the ground as he walked, Grace noticed this when she looked down to avoid his gaze flickering over to her face constantly. "Ya' do know that the maze is the place outside the glade right?"

'Newt was a Runner? So he'd been in the maze,' she noted to herself, maybe she could ask him about it.

"I do now, that's what that exit is?"

"Exactly," Alby declared with a roll of his eyes.

She was now passing the crate you had arrived in. She noticeably shuddered but shook her head and concentrated on Alby,

"So- How do Glader's get stuck in the maze? Do they get lost and-" Grace was trying to ask about the demons Newt had mentioned.

"You must have heard the Maze moving and the doors closing last night," He interrupted her.

She was silent, it moved? That's impossible, he was just trying to scare her. Whoever was brave enough to go out in the maze must have gotten lost. Then eaten. Simple,nothing about moving rooms and such nonsense.

"How many-" Grace began to ask as Alby shushed her, grabbing her arm and leading her past the home base as someone had shouted earlier that day. Once she was safely past and heading towards a different field, he spoke again,

"More than I care to count," Alby stated with a pure grim face that made shivers go down her spine.

As he stopped again, throwing an arm over her chest to keep Grace from walking any further, he motioned towards the ground where a few boys slept, blankets sprawled out across the ground. She picked up an unoccupied piece of fabric and looked at Alby as if expecting him to say goodnight, he took it in a most different direction,

"There's only so much room in Homestead, and it's actually a lot nicer out here. Besides, It never rains here,"

"That's not- Never mind," she said, waving a hand to him as a 'go away' signal. She probably should be more respectful.  
He grunted in response, something about a 'Good' night.

"Night'," Grace politely announced as he left. She threw the blanket he had given her down on the soft grass in a blank spot. She only made a small sound as she sat, folding one arm behind her head and letting the other rest on her stomach. Grace looked up at the star filled sky, hoping it's peaceful appearance would put her to sleep again.

She laid their for a moment before a groggy laugh startled her, low and behold a head of brown-blonde hair and pale brown eyes were staring at you, Newt. She gave an awkward wave with her free hand.

"Heya'," He whispered,copying her silly slight of hand. Grace rolled her eyes letting her head loll to the left of her 'friend'.

Grace turned her head back to the second-in-command, who had sat up, rubbing the back of his neck in the process.

"I saw Alby walk ya' in,so he took ya' to the wall I assume?" He scratched the back of his neck as he asked, glancing over at her.

"No, actually. I- uh... He was waiting for me there. I found it myself," Grace whispered back, her voice didn't sound like her own. It sounded out of place to how she felt, "Hey, Newt, what- what do I look like?" Grace said switching the subject. She looked away again, feeling awkward and uncertain for asking.

"Oh really? Smart girlie, you are, then." He shot her a compliment that she scoffed at on cue, seeing Grace's reaction he moved on.

"Well, you have caramel-colored hair, bout' sixteen to eighteen years on ya', blue eyes, and you are kind of pale." He yawned, "Good enough?" He cocked his head to the side, Grace shrugged.

"Yeah,thanks" She responded meekly, rolling over so that she was facing the rustling plants beside her. Grace wasn't tired, she had slept for most of the day but now. She had to admit though, this ground was actually pretty comfortable.

"See ya' in the morn', I'll show ya' around for real," Newt promised before he shifted again and was back to sleeping. Grace grunted in reply before staring into the endless color of green.

**Que extremely long chapter one! Yeah, I said it was going to be two chapters. Well it might be four, and then continued. Depending. Because Shadow wrote an extremely long chapter one, I had to split it in half. Sorry for all the cussing, I hope you didn't mind. Shadow did all of that stuff. And she did say there was going to be a lot of gore, so be prepared.**

**Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, hey, hey! I have returned after so long! Not really, only a week. Anyways, this story doesn't seem very loved. Yeah, it needs serious mental help. XD It's weird how it's really loved on DeviArt for Shadow Vaults, isn't that right Shadow? Anyways here's the next chapter! Yay!**

_Grace _

Grace spent the rest of the day with Chuck and some other boys she couldn't recall the names of now. How forgetful she were, and that wasn't saying a lot.  
She wiped her brow and drug a hand through her grimy hair before wiping her hand off on her jeans.

"Tired, Girlie?" Chuck said, trying to sound suave. It was all she could do not to laugh.

"Sure, kid," She chuckled, swinging the hoe into the other hand.

"I thought we agreed-" He scowled.

"That was if you didn't insist on nicknaming me girlie. Besides, kid suits you just fine," Grace said smugly, sticking her nose up at him. Before he could reply a familiar accented voice came a calling for her.

"Eh! Grace!" Newt called, setting his hands on his hips when came to a stop in front of her. "O'course you'd be in the last place I'd look,"

"That's my name, don't wear it out. Nobody else is," She sent a playful glare towards Chuck, as if that was her silent jibe in the throat. He just snorted in disapproval and went back to harvesting the fruits of labor.

"So this is where ya'v been all day. Thought you were actually excited to be able to look around," Newt chuckled, and she shrugged.

"Sorta forgot," Grace replied nonchalantly leaning on the hoe in her hands.

"I bet she was just avoiding you," Chuck chuckled from behind a larger plant.

"If you can put up with my foul mouth so can he, kid," She continued to tease, winking at Newt. He could already tell she were in a better mood, what put her in it he had no idea.

"Fine-" Chuck whined, "Grace. Grace. Grace. Happy now?" He was seriously annoyed with her nickname for him.

"I am indeed, Chuck. Chuck. Chuck." Grace replied with a chuckle, "Well- we still have time if you really have that damn heart of yours set on a tour, Newt?"

"I could take you!" Chuck called, out peaking around the tresses holding up a row of tomatoes.

"Someone's already beat you to the offer,Shuck-Face," Newt glared at the younger boy, and she just had to laugh at this.

"Is everyone going to be like this when they get to know me?" Grace asked, obviously still in a joking kind of demeanor.

"Probably," Both boys answered in union truthfully before she broke out into nervous laughter. Both, once again, tilted their heads and gave her a confused look.

'Great. Just great.' was the only thing she could think as the scene went down. Grace composed herself again.

"Let's go then, _Newt_," still insisting on taunting poor Chuck as she walked away. He stuck his tongue out at Grace and ducked behind the thick green barrier.

They both walked in silence for a moment before they came upon a farm like place.

"Suppose," Grace said carefully, "I were to ask about this maze business?" she said, incredibly uninterested in the things around her.

"I would tell you there was no such thing?" Newt replied, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her. Rolling her eyes Grace smacked his shoulder lightly.

"Oi no harmin' another glader." Jibed her friend as he swerved to avoid another smack.

"Geez, didn't think you were such a wimp. That light tap didn't even hurt," Grcae rolled her eyes, "Liar," She breathed, flipping her hair so it would stop getting in her face.

"Whatcha' mean, 'liar'?" Newt scowled, jabbing her back with an index. The conversation stretched on while they walked, the tour turning into just a friendly occurrence. It was nice, the first bit of normal humanity Grace had met. The sun had started to set, and she could already hear the painstaking noises setting in on all sides. Subconsciously she moved closer to the slightly taller boy, for whatever reason Grace didn't notice.

She felt now would be the best time to bring back the topic of the maze, since it was doing it's door closing thing.

"There is 'such a thing' as the Maze, it's outside of those walls right?" turning around as she spoke Grace pointed at the dark grey barrier that separated the glade and the unknown.

"Yea' but I'm not gonna' tell ya' about it, so why worry your pretty little head over it?" Proving his point, he patted her head much like she thought a mother would. Grace scoffed, but an unfamiliar feeling was itching at the sides of her face.

'Stop it!' She cried to herself, turning her head away and covering up her slight blush with another scoff of annoyance.

"As much as I like being flirted with by the likes of you, it's a bit late," Grace said with a laugh, of course she were being sarcastic. Right? Newt seemed to think so, he flashed her a grin and started off the opposite way. Now pulling her jacket on again to protect her bare arms she pulled the hood up and over her ears. It was nice, little comfort.

It's funny, how the passage of time goes quickly. It seemed like only her second day, and yet she'd been here and entire two weeks. Maybe Grace liked it at the Glade. The boys were nice enough, most of them. Chuck and her continued her playfully childish banter more often than not, Minho and Grace got along during the nights that the group joined together for a get-together of sorts. Oddly enough, she had chosen to stay and grow closer to Newt. Oddly enough, her friendship worked and- maybe it could've been something more. That was- if she were a naturally brave person or at least a flirty type of female, but Grace was neither of those things. Her attempts to capture his attention romantically were, let's put it this way, off the mark by quite a long shot.  
Maybe, just maybe, they didn't need to be on target though for him to notice her. Who knew what went on in that guys head.

Newt actually wasn't about for right now, like he normally was at the end of the day, he had said he would be off doing whatever with Alby and the committee. Stuff she wasn't allowed to sit in with, so it didn't really matter what.

Now she were lazily sprawled across the grass, having chosen a day in the kitchen with Frypan instead of being outside, so Grace was soaking up what little vitamin D was left while she could. Most of the time things were peaceful for herself, she didn't get herself into physical trouble, verbal threats and fights weren't uncommon though. The only thing that ever bothered Grace was the whispers. This isn't as crazy as it sounds- she heard whispers, but it didn't seem to be inside of her skull, rather, coming from outside the Glade itself. This distant rasp in her ear before she went to sleep, or when she woke up in the dead of night. It didn't bother her, it rather intrigued her as to why it was happening. She questioned yourself once, asking if this place was slowly draining her sanity? But if she were going crazy, wouldn't the boys be too? Grace brushed the strangeness off when the echos stopped completely, she don't know why or how, but she was grateful.

Aside from the crackling of the fire and the occasional conversations everything was running smoothly as it did most days, but tranquility can only last so long in a place like this. She was just about to go to sleep when she heard shouts, whispers, worried tones. Her eyes snapped open again to see a familiar brown eyed teenager standing over Grace with a hand extended.

"What's going on?" Yawning Grace took his hand and let him help her to her feet. Seemed to be a natural occurrence for him to do that, she actually found it kind of cute.

"The Runner's ain't back yet, the rest of em' are going to watch before the door closes. Thought you might like to see," Sheepishly said, he wiped the sweat off the back of his neck.

"I thought-" She scowled at herself before she even formulated the stupid thought into words, and she started walking towards the grey slabs of rock. The crowd was pretty thick so far but she had no discrepancies gently prodding someone out of the way, and more often than not they would move. Newt seemed to get her idea and followed Grace to the front.

Footsteps slowed, she could hear breathing, something colder than breath. Softer, threatening, a voice, coming to her ears, streaming from the Maze like a fog clouding her head. Grace nearly walked right into the maze in her daze before Newt grabbed her arm, a worried frown on his face. Shaking her head at him as a reassurance method, Grace turned her blue gaze to the dim tunnel in front of her.

The group waited, almost nobody dared to breath and that was until the wall groaned and started moving forward. Just in time to, she heard a scream, a yell and a heart stopping yowl. Her pupils dilated, as did many others. The boys started talking louder, gasps coming from the crowd and from herself, not that Grace were aware. As the gate slowly lurched forward she felt something stir within her as the pounding now present in her head got harder. Like her head was filed with bees, screaming her name, telling Grace to move.

She obeyed before she could stop herself, pushing herself forward she darted into the maze. What followed was a rather loud objection of 'No!' and more gasps.  
Grace couldn't think straight right now. She turned a corner and nearly choked on the stench of blood and the scene laid out before her. A creature, tail peaking out from around the corner, was hissing and growling while taking it's sweet time attacking it's prey. That was conveniently trapped in a dead end.

She did the first thing she could think of, and that was yell at it. It responded by turning to her, metal and flesh making a squishing sound as it's bulbous head turned towards Grace. It snorted raucously at her, as if laughing at her stupidity before turning back to Minho. Grace gulped as it took a large step forward, tail slipping in behind it with a sickening sloshing sound as it shifted in the red pool. How the hell did it get so close to the Glade? Was the only question that came to her baffled lump of skin barely functioning in her thick skull.

Grace could hear the gate in the background and shouts, she had caused chaos. Oops.

She turned her eyes to the body, it's organs sprawled out across the ground, flesh sliced to ribbons, a blotchy purple sting right in the center of his chest. A plan started to form in her head, a skin crawling one, but it just might work. Before Grace could lose the nerve -or for the Griever to sink it's stinger into poor Minho- she lunged at the intestine closest to her. Gagging and choking on the slimy part of a once living thing in between her fingers, Grace stomped her foot again to get it's attention. When that wouldn't work she decided now was the best time for instructions,

"Minho, get outta' here. I'll lead it away," Grace called, loudly enough to reach the terrified boy's ears. The demonic half-beast turned to her, spotting the meat hanging from Grace's numb fingers. It's face squished up in delight as it charged for her, or rather her hand in general. She swallowed, this plan was horrible, simply horrible. Grace wasn't even sure if it was your plan to begin with, but that didn't stop her now. She had a reason to be in here, the thing was too close to the Glade for one and two another Glader was in trouble. Runner or not, he did look like he needed some help and now Grace had distracted the Griever attacking him.

"Here boy, come get the- uh- this," She waved it in front of him, it in response to your jibes, licked it's muzzle and charged.

"Aah, Shit!" She yelped before she could contain it. Dropping the slick piece of flesh with a 'flop' Grace took off into the maze, with the clickity-clack of metal on stone following closely behind her. Turning another corner, then another, then running straight, and another corner. She felt like she were going in circles, and that wasn't helping. She needed to know where she was going.

"Time for a new perspective," Grace gasped as she grappled onto the thick ivy stems that had sprouted out of the cracks and woven themselves around the corners of the rock face. She heard a yowl as she scrambled to move upwards, her palms burning from the harsh contact they hand on the rough outer face of the leaves and fiber. The Griever coming after her, seemed to snort as it latched one of it's needle pointed claws onto the rock face, the nauseating crunch that followed nearly made Grace fall into it's awaiting jaws. When she didn't, the creature, already impatient, started to follow her.

She screeched when her weight broke one of the vines, causing the tips of her fingers to dig into the rough cut wall in hopes of regaining composure. Hearing another robotic clatter of a 'happy' response Grace managed to cling onto the plant infested surface. Before she could haul herself up, she felt a claw -hopefully not armed with a needle full of who knows what poison- dig into her shoulder. With another pained howl, Grace managed to shake the steel appendage out of her shoulder by kicking the thing repeatedly in it's nose area. Did it even have a nose? A set of eyes? Senses other than taste? Did it even have a brain for crying out loud!  
Grace didn't know, and she wasn't sticking around long enough to find out if it had anything other than a big gaping mouth.

With a annoyed growl Grace hauled her entire body onto the higher platform before standing up again, eyes glinting in the moonlight with a flash of red in between. She turned sharply, grabbing a chunk of rock from the a crumbling side of the barrier and for once she was thankful for choosing to do the majority of the delivery jobs, throwing it over the edge there was a sound that reminded Grace of a groan. A groan mixed in with the sounds of rushing water and retching. Oh joy, she might just throw up on it. It would surely appreciate that kind gesture.

"For being pretty stupid, I would've thought you'd have a thicker skull!" She shouted indignantly, still determined to tease the large predator coming after her flesh. It was her way of coping with fear, as if she wasn't scared now

Hoping that it wouldn't be following you any time soon Grace took off again, praying she'd find the exit just at the sunrise. Being preoccupied with, I don't know, living, she had failed to notice the sun set completely. Grace came to a stop when she could no longer hear it's hungry grunts. Pulling at the neck of her hood she managed to reveal the gaping cut, it didn't look like it was infected with the purple goo.

"Thank you," breathing heavy now, she leaned her back on a stone wall. "I hope Minho made it out," Grace said to herself, 'I hope they don't think I'm dead,' insisted her subconscious briefly before she shooed it away to the depths of her mind.

_Mihno_

_Meanwhile. . . .  
_  
Minho did as he was told, he wasn't sure what Grace was playing at- holding someone else's intestine like a trophy, but he would have to trust her for the moment. He and his partner had turned the wrong way in their haste, and it just so happened to be a dead end. If Grace hadn't shown up, he would've ended up like Charlie, just a heap of discarded blood and flesh. The griever didn't even take the time to eat him! It killed him purely for the joy, this supported Minho's theory on how they were just was not a pleasant thought at all.

The gate had already made it halfway towards closing when Grace had bravely turned a corner into the maze, with a curt scream. Minho hoped it was part of the act, he could already feel the guilt two fold.

He had to strain to continue sprinting now, Minho's chest ached, eyes burning, heart thumping randomly in his chest. Through that gap he could see most of the Glader's cheering, urging him on, while Alby was holding Newt back. He made it though, leaping head first through the gap and coming to a stop in the ground at someone's feet,which jerked just as Minho stopped sliding. Getting kicked in the head was not as bad as nearly getting stung and/or being ripped to shreds, in Minho's opinion at least.

"Ugh," Minho groaned from his position on the ground. Gally and Ben hoisted him to his feet while he pressed a rough palm to his forehead only to meet the burning gaze of his higher up. Knowing perfectly well when someone else was going to snap, he stumbled away with the help of Gally, all the while followed by that brown gaze. The other boys dispersed with a single stern glance from Alby, some lingering for a moment before scampering off. One of those boys being Chuck.

_Newt_

"Newt-" Alby called, as he released the lanky boy's arms. Newt stumbled forward a bit so that his forehead and hands were pressed against the stone slab protecting them from the horrific hunting ground of the Grievers.

"She's not going to die," Newt declared, he didn't want to hear whatever klunk Alby wanted to tell him. How it wasn't his or Minho's fault. That he couldn't have done anything. That Grace wouldn't come back, no matter how much he wanted her too. He didn't even care if it was true, if he convinced himself she could make it, maybe she would.

"I was going to say, it's not Minho's fault," Alby said, Newt could see the older man crossing his muscular arms without even having to turn and look.

"Y-" Newt began but was harshly interrupted.

"If it's anyone's fault it's your girl's."

"Who said she was my girl?" Stubborn as any other time he denied having any type of connection other than friendship towards Grace. He wasn't even sure what love was really, especially not such with a girl, but bloody hell, she was something else. She made him nervous, a nervous wreck! Everything about her seemed to glow with a certain perfect aura that he just wanted to run his fingers over her smooth skin, hold her close and do things he didn't even have a word for.

"You want her to be and if you haven't noticed, shuck-face, she went out of her way to talk to or be with around ya'. Now I might not have ever loved, or know how to love anymore, but it was as obvious as her death starin' you right in the face," Alby said, watching him with a dreary expression. To many Gladers, dead. It was horrid and sickening and Alby hated it.

'Was it really just that obvious? Was I just missing it?' His stunned inner voice rang out, shaking his head.

"No," a simple word that opposed the stoic leader's way of saying, 'she's gone'. Alby sighed, exaggerating the loud exhale.

"Til' Tomorrow, then, we'll just have to see," Alby said, waving a hand in Newt's direction before walking away. There was nothing else he could say, if Newt wanted to build up his hopes for her, then so be it. He wouldn't be there to catch him when he came crashing down though.

"Please, Grace, come back," He begged with his face pressed against the cold rough exterior of his home.

**Thank you for reading this not so cliff-hanger of a chapter. But it kinda is a weird sort of way. Anyways...**

**LATER GLADERS! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

_Back in the Maze..._

'They're wrong. I'm going to make it,' Grace tried to breathlessly assure herself, and it worked for a good while before she heard a growl and then a loud creaking lurch. Angling her neck to look right, she saw the passageway out of her corner begin to close up and before she could get to it, it was gone. Just another dead end in this wretched place.

'Shit!' she cried internally, as to not alert the creature stalking her of her own presence. Another grunt, it's metal limbs making loud snaps when they came in contact with the ground.

'I'm going to die,' she thought in sudden realization.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Starting to ramble now, Grace needed to say it all out loud in hopes that they would one day hear it. That was a stupid wish, but it was hers now. "I'm sorry, Newt, for being so stupid. I wish- I wish I could've told you what you meant to be, I love you," As soon as it was out in the open she wanted to take it back, for a plan popped in her head. A plan that gave her a 25% shot at living. That's better than nothing.

The clicking was louder, her whispers grew quicker, heart beating too fast to comprehend her next action, she rounded the corner so that she was facing the beast. Its bulbous head cocked in surprise and while it was watching Grace, in slightly baffled stalemate she fell and leapt forward slipping under its sticky stomach and onto its other side. The maze- it was moving again and for the better it looked like. The Griever turned around just in time to see her disappear behind a moving wall.

"Thank you, O' God of the Maze. Thank you," Clutching her now pulsing shoulder, apparently land sliding on top of it was not her greatest plan of action, she stumbled forward. Grace continued to repeat that single phrase breathlessly, hoping that somehow showing respect for the great big rocky critter would help her out.

She wandered around for who knows how long, luckily not running into another Griever, or the previous one. Like she could tell the difference, she thought whoever put her here cloned the damn things to make it easier to kill everyone. She started to notice the inky blackness turn into a lighter orange. Almost grinning at that, she let her fingers drop from the gash in her arm and shoulder. It had ceased it's agonizing burning and only left her with a senseless feeling of where her head connected to her body.

'Well the hardest part is still upon me,' she thought, smacking herself with a palm.

"Please let me find the entrance- or would it be exit? I'm not even sure which way is which anymore!" Grace screeched then took a deep, calming breath and turned another corner. There it was- a blood streaked path leading straight forward.

"I just got a big break," she said aloud, glancing up at the still dark sky but it was starting to brighten up, just like her future. She touched your shoulder, only to have a pang shoot through to the tendons in her fingers. Grace scowled at the shredded material in dismay before taking a few steps forward at a slow walk and then speeding up to a less leisurely pace. She slowly added speed until she was running down the corridor, her shoulder and back throbbing but not as badly as she would've expected, feet pounding against the ground.

Grace turned to -what she hoped- was just a closed door, now slowly, clutching her arm in hopes of comforting it she stumbled forward to it. One she reached it she collapsed on her knees.

"Ngh," she let the gibberish flow through clenched teeth, she really hoped it was almost time for the doors to open, granted she were in the right place. Several moments passed before she grew bored, the adrenaline rush gone from her conscious, all she wanted to do was sleep for a few hours.

"How long does it take for the sun to rise!" Grace shouted at the sky in anguish and apparently it heard her. With a creak and an ear bleeding groan the giant brick only a hair's length away from her started to shift to one side. She could faintly see grass on the outside, peaking through the small crack it made.

The ground continued shaking beneath her feet, disturbing the peace her wound had been in, but as soon as the crack was big enough for her lean body to slip through she took it. Who wouldn't have?

Grace glanced around at the blurry landscape, the grass sparkling with dew. The sight almost made her cry, she was so happy to see it again. She was about to walk to the Med-jack's hut when she was just about tackled to the ground.

"Eek! Ack- OW! ow-ow-ow!" Grace cried, squirming and kicking. For a moment she was in a paranoid panic, thinking that perhaps Griever's were smarter than she originally thought, but it turned out to be the person she was _dying _to see.

"Don't _ever _do that again, Grace, I swear-" It was Newt. It was just New. She halted her flailing and struggled to hug him back. He had her around the shoulders at an impossible angle to return or deny the embrace, and it was painfully tight around her chest and arm.

"Ow," Grace whined in response, rather hopeful he would let go.

'Alby was right, Alby was right," He was muttering incoherently the same sentence into her hair, and she wasn't exactly sure who was worse. Herself, being stuck in the maze for an entire night or a severely worried Newt.

"Shh," Grace hissed out, not being able to do much else, she was being squeezed nearly to death here. "Let- go for a-sec!" Wheezing and hissing out the sentence in pain and discomfort, Newt reluctantly released her from his python-like grip. She stumbled away gagging and wiping her now watery eyes on a bloody sleeve. The crust scratched her eyelids and she jerked her hand away only to see, before she knew what was happening she was being swarmed, questions being shouted at her, being pointed at, gawked at and eventually being dragged away by the med-jack.

Grace had long since gotten used to a lot of attention from everyone, but she only had a certain want for attention from a certain brown-eyed boy.

Now with her back pressed against the wall, her spine feeling the curves and bumps of the branch's supporting it, she looked around with a lazy expression on her face. She had already spilled everything that happened to everyone who insisted on watching the Medical Man wrap white gauze around her arm and part of her back. Grace had been a bit disappointed not to at least see Newt listening in. She wanted to talk to him.

'I know he's probably steaming mad at me, ugh,' she paused the thought when she heard footsteps. Looking to her right, low and behold there stood Newt, looking surprised -and maybe a bit embarrassed-

"You're awake?" He mumbled, looking at his shoes.

"Can't sleep," Came her blunt reply, the truth was, it was only now that she couldn't sleep.

"Oh." It should've been obvious that she couldn't sleep, duh! Newt felt like he'd already screwed this up, but with heavy footsteps, made his way over to Grace. Expressionless blue eyes followed his rigid movements before he sat down beside her.

Cue heavy awkward silence.

"I'm sorry about. . ." Came his voice, cutting through the ugly lack of conversation like a knife through butter, "You know, when you came back," Newt said in combination to rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and

"It's alright," she replied slowly, 'Can't you add something a bit more sincere, Grace? Like maybe- Yeah, it's fine, I missed you too. I don't know what came over me. I'm sor-'

"So, Grace?" Newt tapped her shoulder, and she jumped hand instinctively grabbing onto what touched her.

"aheh- What?" She stuttered out, snapping her head to the right only to smack right into his forehead. "Zoned out. Ow. Sorry."

She opened her eyes to meet his and for a moment she wasn't sure where she was anymore, what she had been doing or why. Then something unexpected, on both ends, happened. Newt leaned in closer towards her face and pressed his mouth to hers. Grace just sat stiffly, relishing the softness of his touch, the way his palm was hot and clammy trapped in hers, the pinkness of his face that matched her own.

He pulled back just enough that they were no longer connected. Moving the hand she grasped when she came out of her slight day-dream, he set it carefully in your lap and brought his other hand to your cheek.

"I-I love you," Oh bloody hell, he hoped that was the right word for this feeling. The beating in his chest increased at the softness of her breath cascading over his reddening face as he waited for her to reply, possibly reject him. His answer came in the form of another sweet kiss. Strange as it was it felt right.

Wrapping his arms around the small of her back, minding her shoulder, while tugging her forward slowly until she was cradled in his lap. Grace on the other hand tousled his hair gently with her fingers before locking them in place. In need of precious air soon after, she pulled away with a small pant.

"I- love you-, too," she said, letting her fingers slide away from his hair in favor of letting him coddle her. Now loosely letting her arms rest around his chest and her head on his shoulder, she could sleep now if she really tried. Grace felt Newt's nose nuzzling her scalp gently, nearly purring at the foreign sensation it gave her, only adding to her drowsiness.

"Don't ever leave the Glade again," He commanded sternly, gently slipping his fingers under her t-shirt and scanning them across her bear skin. She felt him shudder slightly, almost giggling at this 'shy' boy that was her Newt.

"I can't make that promise," she said slyly, but she doubted she'd be fit enough to get in the maze again anyways. Not like Newt was going to let that happen, his grip tightened considerably when she said that. "But, I can promise that I'll come back," Grace added before his grip turned uncomfortable again, and it loosened considerably.

"Whatever," Came the half-hearted response. Newt pushed himself back onto the cot, letting his hand fall out from beneath her shirt and hang onto her un-wounded shoulder and threw his legs over the edge, or as much as he could, the medical bed was a bit shorter than himself. She rolled off his chest before curling slightly into his side, fingers loosely gripping the fabric of his jacket. This was peace.

"Grace?" He asked, moving onto his side now so that he could see her face. She 'hm'd' in response so that he knew she was listening.

"Thank you for being alive," He concluded, kissing her forehead. She hummed, burrowing into him. Listening to his steady heartbeat, forgetting her night spent in the maze in favor of memorizing the beat, the way his fingers caressed her head with care.

"You too," Pausing, Grace yawned before squirming to get comfortable in his loose grasp. Which didn't take too long. "Love you," her muffled voice was clear and perfect in his ears. She was asleep in seconds, heavy and calm breaths rolling over his collar bone. He eventually fell asleep too, holding her close to his chest. There was no way in hell he was loosing her, she was too precious for him to loose. The missing piece in his life.

There would be more time for the two to bond, more trials for them to endure together, more chances to say three simple words that would mean more each time they left either of their lips.  
This may be a prison of sorts, with the unknown lurking around every corner but this was something they all must have known at one point before she came here. It was love, maybe young love. Considering neither of them knew exactly how old she was, you couldn't be sure.  
This was peace, this was protection, this was happiness. So of course, none of it wouldn't last very long, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it while it was here.

And all this started was because Grace ran.


End file.
